bubbleinfo.com

from sddt.com

Five ships and more than 5,500 sailors of Carrier Strike Group 7 returned to their homeport of San Diego Nov. 25 after a six-month deployment to the 7th Fleet and 5th Fleet areas of responsibility.

The strike group flagship, the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville, the guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur and USS Gridley and the guided-missile frigate USS Thach arrived to meet thousands of family members waiting on the pier.

The deployment was the third-ever for the Ronald Reagan strike group, which performed combat operations in support of coalition troops in Afghanistan, as well as carrying out a humanitarian assistance/disaster relief mission in the Philippines in response to Typhoon Fengshen in June and July.

“There is no question that Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group had a very successful deployment,” said Commander, Carrier Strike Group 7, Rear Adm. Scott Hebner.

“The talented and dedicated sailors of this group demonstrated tremendous operational flexibility and performed at the highest levels of excellence across the warfare spectrum and core capabilities of the Maritime Strategy.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class David A. Brandenburg/Released

“They were warriors, ambassadors, partners and humanitarians. They represent all that is good in our country and I’m profoundly honored to sail with this impressive strike group.”

The deployment ceased being routine when Mother Nature unleashed its wrath on the Philippines. Typhoon Fengshen struck the nation hard, particularly on the island of Panay, leaving 540 dead and destroying more than 100,000 homes.

The Ronald Reagan strike group, which was enjoying its first port call of the deployment in Hong Kong, left port a day early to avoid the storm, and after receiving an order from President George W. Bush, immediately steamed to the Philippines to help.

Arriving on station in only 36 hours, helicopters from all six ships, including the guided-missile destroyer USS Howard, proceeded to fly eight consecutive days delivering more than 519,000 pounds of fresh water, rice and medical supplies.

After visits to Korea, Japan and Malaysia, the Ronald Reagan strike group transferred to 5th Fleet.  Ronald Reagan, Chancellorsville and Reagan’s embarked Carrier Air Wing 14 took up station in the Gulf of Oman as Commander, Task Force 50 and immediately began support of coalition forces on the ground in southern Afghanistan, flying more than 1,150 sorties in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

While Ronald Reagan and its air wing helped provide security on the ground in Afghanistan, other strike group ships provided maritime security in the region.  Decatur and Thach joined Task Force 152 in the Central Arabian Gulf, while Gridley and Howard patrolled the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden as part of Task Force 150.  CSG-7 ships also strengthened maritime partnerships by participating in the bilateral Exercise Malabar ’08 with the Navy of India, as well as South East Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism with the navies of Brunei, Singapore and the Republic of the Philippines.

The deployment was the third for Ronald Reagan, the U.S. Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, which was commissioned in 2003.  The squadrons of CVW-14 supported many missions during the six month deployment and include the “Redcocks” of VFA-22, “Fist of the Fleet” of VFA-25, “Stingers” of VFA-113, “Eagles” of VFA-115, “Black Eagles” of Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113, “Cougars” of Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 139, “Black Knights” of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4 and the “Providers” of Carrier Logistics Support 30.

www.battle-fleet.com/pw/his/USS_Ronald_Reagan.htm

There are 144,000 Americans stationed in Iraq, and over 48,000 in Afghanistan.  While we enjoy the freedom their service provides us, they are being put to the test in every conceivable way.

Let’s reach out, shall we?

I introduced ‘Aunt Nancy’ last year, a lady who out of the goodness of her heart has organized an effort to send packages to soldiers around the holidays.  By simply emailing her, she will assign you a specific soldier, and you can send them a ‘relief package’ to enjoy for the holidays.

Here is her message:

Jim,

Thanks for your offer to help spread the word for my last minute plea for getting Christmas to our troops!  As you know, I’ve been at this for over 5 years now.  There is no organization here, just me and my laptop, connecting people  to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany (wounded military), and now even a few sailors out at sea.

Your blog readers know what a lean year it has been for everyone, and our troops are feeling it too.  Their families are struggling to be able to send much, and well, my little project has had about a 75% drop in participation this holiday season.   If anyone would like to help by filling up and mailing a Christmas stocking or two, that would be awesome!  We are also looking for candy canes, cookies, candy, and decorations.  Even just more Christmas card greetings would add some cheer!

Usually packages need to be shipped by Thanksgiving, and that surprises people.  Fortunately, I just received two Army units stationed right at the Baghdad International Airport bases and that is where the mail arrives.  They can get PRIORITY MAIL delivered in 10 to 14 days!  That gives us a chance to still mail decorations in time for them to hang them up and enjoy them for a week.

In any case, even a couple of extra cards would be nice.  Some people bring a box of cards to Thanksgiving dinner and have all the family sign them.  Scout and school groups often make cards.  Whatever!  A note here, there continues to be an email forwarded around saying “send a card to ANY SOLDIER” etc.  Please let people know that those cards get thrown away.  They must be addressed to a specific soldier.  I can help with that!

My blog has several postings about the different projects I’m organizing.  No troop addresses are ever listed online.  Just send me an email request!  Thanks again for your effort Jim.

Nancy’s email is  nancy@auntnancyusa.com

and her blog is http://auntnancyusa.blogspot.com/

Email Nancy today, and she’ll give you a soldier’s name and address for you to send a holiday treat!  Thank You!

D Max posed these thoughts:

I don’t have a guess but I do have a few questions:

When is the last time in history when October sales were higher than June sales? The sales trend, as far back as I have been able to research, is fairly predictable. Do you have any theories what is causing this unusual sales pattern? Are the banks in SoCal starting to lend money again? Are foreigners purchasing these properties? Where are these buyers coming from and is this pool of buyers bottomless or is it drying up?

Let’s compare the sales history between June and October:

Normally there is drop-off in sales in the fourth quarter, and almost all of these October counts are substantially less than June (1997 was unusual). Add into this mix that the interest-only loans started being pushed in 2001, and the neg-ams really got going in 2003, and you’ll see that by 2003 we hit warp speed; even though prices were going up substantially, sales were still smoking.

Typically there had been some price drop in the fourth quarter too, but between 2000-2005 the prices kept going up, even though sales declined.

In 2008, with the price trend in a steep descent, the October sales has bucked the normal trend of fewer sales – normally a double-digit decline turned into a 14% increase!

To answer D Max’s questions, I think it’s purely a result of buyers finding some homes priced well enough that they are buying. The lending has gotten tighter, but I wouldn’t call it tight – yet. More to come on that later.

Had an interesting experience at this Lennar new-home sales office yesterday.

The sales agent remembered my buyer from a previous visit, and immediately says we don’t qualify for broker participation.  My client had never signed in before, but about six months ago had stopped in and asked some pointed questions about their pricing and lack of sales.

Apparently this guy didn’t forget, and took great joy in running us off.

This from a company who has LOST more money in 2007 and 2008 than they made in 2002-2006!

Lennar’s third quarter results:

http://www.123jump.com/earnings-calls/Lennar-Earnings-Call-Third-Quarter-2008/30078/1

Has everyone seen this already?

http://majman.net/fly_loader.html

Warning, can be addictive.

Today a lender was sharing some recent travails with funding condo deals.

Fannie Mae has a guideline that stipulates no more than 10% of a condo complex can be in default on their homeowners’ dues - which wasn’t a problem when times were good.

It’s different now.

He mentioned two different cases, one complex with 14 of 40, and another complex with 28 of 60 that are delinquent on their HOA payments.

Your only hope is to go FHA or VA, because Fannie won’t do it.

****************************************************************************

But then he brought up a downtown high-rise we all know, La Vita.

(Dave, a La Vita owner, confirmed with the HOA that the previous information left here last night was in error)

What has that meant for sales?

Three units did close last month, one with a VA loan, one with 20% down with a portfolio lender, and the third had a 20% down payment and financed 80% with a no-name mortgage bank that may have forgot to get an HOA certificate, or possibly found a way to slip it through – or they got stuck with it.

There are five units that have received their NODs, and a couple of REOs.

One of the REOs is unit #903, just foreclosed by WaMu two weeks ago.  It was owned one of my past clients – an older guy whose Carlsbad house I sold in 2006.  He was adamant about buying a downtown condo, but I told him he was crazy and recommended that he rent, given his situation (just divorced).

He found a different realtor that sold him this unit for $675,000 in June, 2006.  WaMu’s opening bid was $398,000 on October 30th, but they had no takers at the trustee sale. 

If you are looking for 1,132sf with a big patio on the 9th floor, look for this one to hit the open market in the next couple of months – but check the HOA!